Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-01-20
LIFE AT SEA.
The Days Work Of the Sailor Not
Attractive.
Washing the Deck and Using the "BoIy
StOne"-Painstaking Weeyils Riot
ing In the Sea Biscuit-The
"Dog Watch" Etc.

'Dog Watch" Etc.
The days work may be said to begin
at half past five in the morning with the
operation of washing the decks When
the clock underneath the break of the
poop indicates that time the ships bell
is struck thrice; it is 'three BELLS" As
the sound dies away the boatswain ut
ters stentorian Turn to-" and the
hardy sailors prepare for toll. They
first put down their pipes; for they have
been enjoyinga delightful smoke after
the cup of dubious coffee served out to
them in their panikins at five o'clock.
Then, if they are IN warm latitudes,
they diyest themselves of their shoes
and stockings, turn up their neither gar
ments, and display to the eye of the OBJ
server a ludicrous variety of manly
calves and bare feet. Two men, per-
haps, proceed to the pump and begin to
fill the wash-deck tub; three or four
others arm themselves with brooms,
and there remain one or two sailors to
pass along buckets of water for the
boatswain to dash about. There is a
peculiar art, only to be acquired by
considerable practice. in throwing
bucketful of water on to the deck so
that it may spread about properly.
Cast from the professional arms of the
boatswain, the water falls with a
familiar smack" Just behind the bare
footed mariners with their brooms. 1t
sweeps playfully over their feet, and
Immediately they begin to scratch away
as if they were determined to de-
stroy the deck. So bucket after bucket
is dipped into the wash-deck tub and
passed on to the boatswain. In some
ships he uses hose, and then more men
are able to apply themselves to the
brooms and scrubbers. If ship is
nearing port and the captain wishes the
decks to appear particularly white, GER
tain articles very familiar to seafarers
are employed in the operation of clean
ing. These are denominated, by some
nautical freak of diction, ''holy stones. "
From the mere name we might imagine
them to be the treasured fragments of
some classical shrine, but in reality,
they are most humble pieces of sand
stone, about the size of half brick.
Poetry abandons the nautical mind
when the seaman uses the holy stone.
Picture to yourself half dozen bronzed
and bare-footed mariners, on their
hands and knees, lugubriously scrub
bing the decks with these stones, SO that
people ashore may exclaim: 'How
beautiful ship looks"
The men wash and scrub away until
about 7;20. At this time tinge of hope
and pleasure asserts itself in their minds;
the happy morning sleep of the watch
below-their comrades off duty-is
about to be destroyed. Somebody goes
to the ships bell and strikes it seven
times; it is "seven BELLS" Immedi-
ately ono of the scrubbing sailors runs
with bare feet to the forecastle as if he
had just heard some beautiful
melody and was determined to follow it
to its source. But what does he doP
He does this: Directly he enters the
forecastle he breaks into the most
abominable bathos. His sleeping COM
rades lie peacefully in their hunks
around that unambrosal place. They
slumber, they dream; they are enjoying
the end of their four hours respite from
their tolls, yet this man enters like a
vocal fiend of most violent discord to
disturb them. He looks at them and he
yells: "Hi, you sleepers-seven bells,
here-show leg, come!" He continues
in this strain till he has uttered enough
noise to awaken dormouse in the
depth of winter Then the watch below
wake up. as is only natural; they stir in
their hunks, relinquish their black
blankets, and crawl on to their sea
chests, thence to the deck. They do not
trouble themselves with any trivialtes
of the toilet. Life is short, fresh water
is precious, and personal appearance is
frivolity at sea. One of their number
proceeds to the galley-the nautical
kitchen--and receives from the cook q
can of so-called coffee; this, together
with sea biscuits, forms the sailor I
breakfast. The coffee is a black
mystery stewed to distraction; the bis
cult resembles an edible stone, tolerable
as curiosity, but monotonous as an
article of daily diet. Yet weevils are
painstaking race of infinitesimal crea'
lures; they love to live and die
in the sea biscuit As hard
hearted comestible it has no rival. A
sailor takes one of the things from the
..bread barge" and smites il against hi'
knee; he repeats the process, but the
biscuit is imperturbable; the man be
comes Interested and crashes it agains
the corner of his sea chest; at last th'
..pantile" breaks, and the mariner Il
able to breakfast True, some OF th'
biscuits are soft, but the weevils gener
ally find out this before the man. Th'
nautical breakfast differs in various
ships: in some the seamen are allowed
sort of porridge called "burgoo. o.
else a species Of hash known as lob
scouse.h These are doubtless excelien
in themselves; bat the careless mnnne
in which they are cooked detracts from
their good Qualities Hapnuy' IN